Epitome of Adolescence
by Hehimself
Summary: As we all know, youth is sweet AND sour. Especially when you are a trained killing machine. See two adolescents in juxtaposition as one stumbles through a humiliating discharge, while the other struggles as a result of promotions. Gai/Kakashi


\\Author's Note: Obviously, I do not own any of these characters! This is INTENDED to be multi-chapter, assuming I don't get incredibly lazy! Really, I just love both of these characters dearly, and the entire older generation of Naruto! I wanted to put out more stories of them because THERE IS NOT ENOUGH :( seriously guys. Originally, this was a prompt filled out on a livejournal Naruto kinkmeme, but I held a fondness for the storyline and decided to take it further, and take out the porn. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I have anything against porn! I just felt that the prompt required sex, while the story I was writing DIDN'T require it, and I felt it could go on longer and with better development if I had taken it out.

So, here we have teenage Gai, and teenage Kakashi. This story will exhibit how the world expects nothing out of the former, and everything out of the latter, and how the two deal with it separately while building a turbulent and dysfunctional rivalry. Other characters will pop up, and I DO want to warn people that this story will cover some of what I believe to be the politics involved in war, which includes civilian rape and terrorization, blind nationalism, indoctrination and scared soldiers. Oh yes, and there will be mentionings of love. Love of the ~Homosexual~ kind, and of the other kind. You know, that kind that results in babies or whatever.

HERE. WE. GO. :D\\

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"I wanted it to resemble a tortoise," disappointment colored Gai's face as he examined the mask, turning it over in his hand with a concentrated expression. "This looks more like a bird, don't you think?"

His question was met with Kakashi sitting upright, turning his head in his young comrade's direction. _This_ was his preordained and highly recommended protégé? The new recruit might have been highly sought after for his speed, but Kakashi had been in this game long before him, and knew how quickly people broke under the pressure of being a covert op. This babbling moron seemed to go on for an interminable amount of time, and seemed to have difficulty in reading any type of situation, based on his incessant impropriety and awkward interjections. A glare in his direction should have sufficed, but the thick-browed young man looked as confused as ever.

Kakashi already tired of looking at that face.

"Just put on the mask." He uttered with annoyance, slipping his own over his face.

"Ah, of course," replied Gai with exuberant effort, eyes aglow with adulation. For as easily excitable as he was, Gai couldn't remember a time when he felt this in awe at someone's presence. Enigmatic to a fault, Kakashi's attitude was nearly always hip, and he'd be dishonest if he were to front that he hadn't dreamed of befriending the famous child of Hatake Sakumo for a while now. After Kakashi had suffered so much terrible and unimaginable loss, Gai knew that he needed someone to bring some joy into his life more than anything. He flashed a wide and ebullient grin at his comrade before it was hidden by the safe guard of the stoic ANBU mask, dreaming up scenarios in his mind of somehow getting Kakashi to open up to him, trust him, and like him more than anyone else. "I was wondering when you'd talk!" His voice was slightly muffled by the mask.

Kakashi was positively disenchanted as he stood, not waiting a moment before he'd began to walk away towards their destination. Usually, he was not this short on patience, he thought. He turned toward Gai and declared, "Let's go."

Gai had practically been at Kakashi's heels at that very moment, and swiftly dug his toes into the ground in front of him, cutting himself short of crashing into the prodigy's body. Their masks made an awkward clanking sound as they collided, but Gai kept their bodies separate by barely an inch. He was about to distance himself immediately before a rough push by Kakashi's own hand had needlessly assisted him in the task, shoving the hopeless boy off balance and back down into the dirt. The force of impact knocked his mask into an awkwardly crooked position, one strap over his ear, and had impeded his field of vision. What had been represented in clarity before him, though, was the distancing footsteps of his superior, going on without him.

No hard feelings, Gai thought. This was war! Men expressed their affection and camaraderie in varied and colorful ways, trying to rough and tough each other up so all can live to see another day! He fastened his mask on right and jumped up to his feet again, making sure to keep a safe distance this time as he followed. Eventually, as always, the silence made Gai feel anxious. It flooded his ears and suffocated the air around the two men, tugging and taunting at his throat. This had simply meant that he was not trying hard enough, that he was not charismatic enough. Though he hadn't a friend, really, he loved to watch others converse and commiserate. Conversations that he witnessed seem to never end, and there had been a fascinating feedback between two or more people that Gai had yearned for. His conversations had always been so one-sided, and he was sure there must have been some formula to this all that he'd been missing. Trying harder was the only option he was aware of.

The silence had been distilling to Kakashi, however short-lived it was.

"A mission of Reconnaissance," Gai said in a manner that seemed to come off as forcibly smooth, his eyes fixed on Kakashi ahead of him. "Our established checkpoints at Kusagakure are under imminent threat by shinobi from both Iwagakure and Amegakure! The combined threat of invasion from Iwagakure and fringe groups from Amegakure could lead to destabilization of both our natural resources and residing clans in the area. Sectarian violence is the last thing we want, right, my beloved comrade?" He sounded incredibly impressed with himself.

At least one of them was.

"Good," Kakashi drawled, "You read the report." He would have made a remark on Gai creepily using the word_ beloved_, but he decided that the more response he gave Gai, the more encouraged it would make him. Instead, he tuned the grating voice out, and kept on walking as Gai kept talking.

"We're to meet up with our compatriots, right?" Gai questioned in a more clear tone, wondering if the mask had been muffling his voice too much and Kakashi could not hear him correctly. "Afterward, maybe we can . . . have a drink? A round to celebrate our youth, and the continued survival of our glorious nation?" There had been an almost pathetic desperation in his voice that Hatake Kakashi was all too happy to ignore.

The silence was familiar to Gai, and he became uncharacteristically quiet in compliance. It continued to accompany them on Kakashi's terms, broken when he decided it should be broken. He cleared his throat, looking over his shoulder at Gai. "Hey," his words caused Gai's head to snap up excitedly. "We're here."

The two young men approached their masked comrades, and Kakashi felt a wave of relief. Maybe Gai would find someone else to annoy.

---

Camp had been set up for the night, and Kakashi had found himself in the company of Tenzou and Asuma, laughing for the first time in weeks. The three exchanged humorous stories and tales of sexual conquest, and Gai hadn't asked to come over and join them once. It was shaping up to be a better night than the young genius had expected, and though everyone knew they should be getting rest, the warmth that encompassed all of the young men as they made their friends laugh and patted each other's backs supportively washed away so many fears that nightmares would just allow to seep back in.

"She was beautiful, I'm telling you," Asuma smiled as he lit his cigarette. "Don't know why she hangs around that scary Anko girl, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping she's the normal one of the two!" He exclaimed, sending Tenzou into a fit of laughter. Kakashi felt himself smiling beneath his mask, and maybe it was the sake, but something felt bittersweet about this all.

Tenzou jabbed his side roughly.

"How about your girlfriend?" His eyes looked playful, but there had been an undetected semblance of jealousy that had gone unnoticed from the shinobi that always looked underneath the underneath. Instead, Kakashi was ready to be upset at anyone bringing Rin up around him, until Tenzou had glanced over suggestively in the distance, where Gai had been huddled by his own fire he had started, isolated from the rest of the rowdy men and women. Kakashi looked bemused, giving Tenzou a small shove.

"He's relentless," He sighed, and the irritability in his tone was met with a triumphant look from Tenzou. "He seriously won't shut up. Ever."

"He's very talented, though." Asuma glanced over at the awkwardly outcast new recruit with an admiring look, while Kakashi just shrugged, uninterested.

"He's single, you know." He teased the Sarutobi, tickling the stubble at his chin. He was as bad as them deep down, really.

Over at Gai's small but determined fire, he found himself pulling his knees closer to his chest with a dejected pout. There was that everflowing, endless conversation that streamed through the air around him, and yet he'd still been missing that formula. He stared into the fire, dreaming of where his hard work would get him one day, and knew his spirit would win out in this battle with the sour time of adolescence. Before he could even try his hand at the unfamiliar art of wallowing, he noticed a group of his comrades had been walking over toward him. Instinctively, Gai straightened his posture, dramatically trying to look cooler and have the fire give his features better lighting.

The men snickered, and one of them had held out a cup for Gai. The puzzled young man stared at it, before looking back up at his comrade.

"You all seem to be having a great time!" He exclaimed with a smile, gaze flickering as bright as the fire at the thought of being invited into whatever manly hijinx these men seemed to be into. The warm embrace of acceptance was almost in his grasp! "What has incited this fit of merry laughter?"

Gai's use of the word "merry", of course, just sent them into more immature guffawing and giggling. Most of the boys had already been aware that he seemed to live in another world, where the only way to live was to emulate classic war novels and picture shows of camaraderie and friendship that he'd read. His cheesy and outdated mannerisms were a sign of cluelessness and an endless source of entertainment for most of the guys in his age group. It was if he'd been tailored to be the target of pranks, if not for his brutal strength and unexpected skill.

"This," a man with shoulder-length black hair shoved the small cup closer to Gai's face, bending forward as he did. "We snuck some sake on this mission. Want some?"

"I'm not sure," Gai nervously glanced down at the cup, then back up at the handsome man offering it to him. "It doesn't seem like a good idea to drink on a mission." His words lacked certainty as he felt more eyes on him. He bit his lip, recognizing this as a form of inclusiveness, and as the cup had stayed in place despite his weak protest, he found himself grabbing it. An invisible hand pulled at his cheeks, leading him to grin even wider at the boys, even if he'd felt very uncomfortable. "Though, I guess a bit would not hurt!"

He closed his eyes and lifted the cup to his lips. A hand gripped at his wrist firmly, and he opened his eyes to an unfamiliar face. The man's demeanor, however, was somewhat similar to Kakashi's hip and casual attitude. Brown hair, long. Hazel eyes. Chewing on what appeared to be a . . . senbon? Although he and Gai appeared the same age, there was something about this man's presence that made Gai certain that he was older.

"Hello," He smiled, looking down at the hand on his wrist. "Is there something wrong?" He tilted his head curiously, and heard the men around him get disturbingly quiet.

"Don't drink that." The fellow ANBU replied, and the groans of the men surrounding Gai followed.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not sake," he shot the rest an annoyed look. "It's piss."

Gai's expression fell into something that was unreadable, and was devoid of surprise.

"Genma, you're such a fucking buzzkill." Half of the men laughed, while the others just looked exasperated and walked off.

As he loosened his grip on Gai's wrist, Genma grabbed the cup from him with a sympathetic look. With a pat on Gai's shoulder, he was gone, and Gai was back to looking ahead into the fire until his eyelids grew too heavy for him to resist sleep.

-----

The next morning was routine, and the men and women had almost a complete turnaround from the previous night. Gone was the laughter, the light mood, and any signs that behind the masks they had all been young and ignorant. Nearly indistinguishable, they brandished their weapons and stocked up on water, making their way over the hillside and to the checkpoint as the sun and the earth met at a brilliant and daunting horizon. The sight they were met with as they arrived was something they'd been conditioned for. Most paid no visible attention to the several slaughtered chuunin, and only felt incentive to make sure this point had once again been secured from rebels with, for all they knew, misplaced anger and hatred.  
Kakashi looked at Gai expectantly, noticing the young man had been distracted by a dismembered body to his side. With a quick shove, he whispered in a demanding tone, "Get your head on straight, Gai. You're on the line to secure the point while we keep out of sight."

Gai's mask bobbed up and down as he nodded, giving Kakashi an unnecessary salute and rushing up to the established border. Camp had already been set up by the previous team, and with a quick glance around he recognized that the man with the senbon was also guarding this very same checkpoint with him. Though the four others with him were unrecognizable to the newer member, he felt confident with Genma's presence. He knew Kakashi was underestimating him, and that he'd get to truly impress him by the end of this mission.

Most of the day had gone by and had been a controlled success. The handful of people who arrived at the border had proof of identity and were unarmed, though it had not assuaged the nerves of the ANBU. All except Gai, of course, who had taken it upon himself to converse with the people who were crossing the checkpoint in an overly friendly manner, much to the chagrin of his comrades. He seemed to be completely unaware that the fact that people were _afraid_ of ANBU was a good thing, not an image to fix.

"Stop," Genma shouted out to a young woman approaching the checkpoint. Her arms were folded protectively over her chest, and she wore a grimace on her face. Her skin was discolored and her eyes held a sickly coat of yellow over the sclera. "Hands up, ma'am."

Before Genma could finish his demands, Gai had moved forward in what seemed to be a flash. A graceful heel planted in the grass turned his body quick enough to grab both of the woman's arms, restraining both of them behind her back. She cried out in pain as a handful of shuriken fell out of the front of her robes and on to the floor in front of them.

"Please, don't hurt me," she attempted to look back at Gai, but was strained too much by

his hold and in too uncomfortable of a position. "I had a dream, a terrible dream."

Before anyone else could move forward, Genma held a hand up to stop them, jerking his head left to the scene unfolding before them. There seemed to be a few more people approaching in the distance.

"If you do not struggle, you- " Gai paused for a moment, his tone becoming more gentle. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"What if it wasn't a dream?" She began to sound hysterical as she continued, "I was younger, I was a little girl. There were a bunch of men staring at me, looking down at me. They had bodies -- they had normal bodies, and they all had animal heads. They all had animal heads. Masks, masks like yours. They hurt me so badly, they raped me. Was that only a bad dream? Are you going to rape me?"

He let go of her arms almost immediately, taking a step back as she whirled around to face him, tears running down her pasty cheeks. "Do you want to see my scars?" She trembled as she spoke, gripping the sash of her robe.

Gai grabbed the chin of his mask, pushing it up slowly to reveal himself to her. His eyes were wide and had an unstable look in them, for the oversensitive ninja was about to cry, too. Fixated on her movements, he shook his head. "I wouldn't do that, I wouldn't. I'm not like that!"

He hardly had time to register the seals pasted across her scarred chest as she opened her robes and revealed her body to him, before he heard the familiar crackling sound of a fuse about to blow from an explosive tag. Everything seemed to slow down for a second, and he shut his eyes tightly as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. An invasive noise gripped at his head, so loud that it poured into his ears and rang against his skull, only to be followed by the silence of what he could only imagine was death.

It wasn't death, though, and he'd opened his eyes after what seemed like an eternity, supporting himself up on arms he wasn't certain he had at the moment, sitting up as the world continued to shake and move around him. In front of him, someone was standing. Someone with bare legs. It was ANBU, and half of their pants seemed to have been blown off.

Those arms must have belonged to this person. A quick look up revealed his savior to be Kakashi, glaring down at him with an unmistakable rage. Gai felt warm blood dripping on to his own bare shoulder, pouring out of his ear. Kakashi was yelling, but Gai couldn't make out any of the angry words. Everything sounded like his head was under water, and all he could do was weakly reach forward to place his hand on one of Kakashi's legs. In his last seconds of consciousness, all he let out a hoarse laugh.

-----

A week later, by a majority vote and a psychological evaluation, Gai had been informed while recovering at the hospital that he'd been discharged from the ANBU black ops. The first person in its history to be discharged after the first mission. Though he was undeniably one of the most talented shinobi his generation had to offer, he'd been assessed as having an "ill-equipped mentality" for the position, and needed further mental and emotional training. The entire thing was a humiliating ordeal for the shinobi that rarely felt shame, and he'd been glad that he had no family to disappoint with such news.

The first day he'd been released from the hospital, Gai summoned Ninkame to confide in him, hug him tightly, and cry pathetically into the night about how he'd never stop working hard to be a better shinobi. The tortoise had been used to such behavior, and grew to find it somewhat endearing over the years.

-----

His rehabilitation was shorter than expected, and Gai had soon proven he was material for high-ranking missions shortly afterward. Unfortunately, he was still not allowed back on ANBU, which served for some embarrassing and mocking encounters when he'd have to relay information or important scrolls to them on certain missions. Kakashi in particular had not even bothered to look Gai in the eye on any of their meetings since then, which was why his sudden appearance at Gai's favored training spot sent the hot-blooded teenager into a shouting fit.

"This is **MY** kicking spot, Kakashi! Go find your own!" He shouted at the unwelcome intruder, pointing in an exaggerated manner at the abused tree. "OUT-OUT-OUT-OUT!"

The melodramatic fit Gai was having wasn't unusual, from what Kakashi had seen of him in the past. He truly was a man of the theatre, honestly, and should have been an actor instead of a shinobi. He sighed, pulling out his erotic reading material. "A tantrum? That's the thanks I get for saving your life?"

Gai's jaw dropped, mouth frozen in an angry "O" expression, before his countenance showed complete and utter rage at Kakashi's words.

"I sent you flowers! And cards!" Gai clenched his fists, digging his heels into the dirt beneath him. His glare was burning and heated, fixed on Kakashi's icy and sardonic look at him. The anger in his voice was washed out by an indignant pain. "You ignored me for over four months!!"

"It's not like we were friends or anything." Kakashi's words were careless and light, and hit Gai like an anvil disguised as a feather.

"Right." Gai seethed, turning back to the tree. "ONE MILLION, FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND." He counted as he kicked the tree, to which Kakashi replied with a humored snort.

"You have not been kicking that much. You just made up that number to look impressive."

Gai turned red, but continued kicking the tree. His heart was pounding and his entire body felt like it was disintegrating into the air with every word Kakashi said. That distinct fluttering in his stomach was instantly recognizable, and only served to further his sour mood.

"You sound a bit louder than usual," Kakashi said in an almost concerned tone. "Were you deafened a bit by that blast?"

Gai quickly planted his feet on to the trunk of the tree, before pushing off at high speed in Kakashi's direction. Before the copycat-ninja could react, his wide eyes were met with a dark glare that he could almost swear had killing intent. He landed back on to the floor harshly, the back of his head hitting against an unruly root of a tree. His wrists were pinned to his sides by the strongest hands he'd felt in his life, and he wondered if he should fear for his life. He looked over at his right hand, then at his left. Ah, great. His book was gone. He'd make Gai find it after he was done with his hissy fit.

"You're my equal, okay!?" Gai shouted at him, sounding more like he was talking to himself than to Kakashi. "You are not my superior! You're my rival! I'm not some joke!"

Kakashi moved his hips to try and get his legs in a position to throw Gai off, but Gai proved much more persistent and stronger than he'd originally perceived him to be. Heavy legs held his own down with barely a struggle. Shit, didn't this lunatic wear weights on those things?

"Yeah, yeah," he narrowed his eye, trying to make it clear that Gai was just an annoyance to him. Someone may have stolen the ridiculous daylight from Gai's suddenly wild and angry eyes, but he wasn't going to let himself be intimidated by some idiot with a temper. "You're obsessed with me, I get it."

The silence between them after those words was uncomfortable, to say the last. Gai's expression was frozen in a maelstrom of outrage as he struggled to get a defense out. "Actually, I'm ... not!!!"

Wow, what a glorious retort. Once again Kakashi's hips were bucked up. This was an inconvenience he didn't expect, but he was getting more and more impatient with this position. He let out a shocked gasp when Gai angrily pushed his hips down with his own, body pressing his painfully into the ground. He struggled harder against Gai, which only served to work his own body's nerves up more as he was pressed further into the dirt.

Torn between the option of resignation or aggravating the potential danger of this situation with a more serious confrontation, the bridge of Kakashi's nose scrunched to show a visible sneer beneath his mask. "You're so annoying."

Gai's eyebrows dropped menacingly at Kakashi's words, and his eyes narrowed. It looked like audacity itself had hit him in the face, and Kakashi wasn't going to validate his anger. It was obvious he had issues.

"Your opinion means nothing to me! All that matters is I work hard and enjoy my youth!" Gai shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Did you say something?"

The careless reply was met with an indignant huff, and Gai grabbed Kakashi's forehead-protector, pulling it down over both eyes in an immature rebuttal. Before anything could escalate to further levels of embarrassment, the rustling sound of leaves snapped the two shinobi to stiffened defense. Much to their relief, a familiar figure emerged from behind some trees, staring at the two in an amused manner.

"Am I interrupting something?" Genma looked down at the young men, quirking an eyebrow.

Gai practically leaped off of Kakashi, standing tall and proud in front of Genma, waving ecstatically as though he needed his sole focus and attention more than anything in the world. Kakashi, meanwhile, stayed put quite lazily, not bothering to lift up his hitai-ate. Tuning out Gai's fawning over Genma and invitations to spar with a distant and unfamiliar feeling that he couldn't quite place, the masked ninja let the world drift out around him.

Now where was his damn book?


End file.
